Technology czar John Chambers takes a close look at startups, in India and abroad, and the issues founders face
Technology czar John Chambers, founder and chief executive of JC2 Ventures, which has invested in 16 startups around the world, says it’s important to remember that cashing out early is not an ‘Indian trend.’ His former company, Cisco Systems, had acquired 180 companies while Chambers was at its helm. In an email interview with ET’s Shelley Singh, Chambers takes a close look at startups, in India and abroad, and the issues founders face. Edited excerpts. All about the exit Sixty to 70% of all startups, whether in the US, Europe, India or another part of the world, have an exit strategy of being acquired by another company (that is, cashing out early), or by a private equity firm that takes the company to a different level. That said, what is currently missing in India are the ‘acquirers,’ if you will, which are often large technology giants or big enterprise companies. As the startup market in India becomes more robust and the business-to-business market continues to develop, I think you will see this change. To build on that, a big driver of this ‘cash out exit strategy’ is likely founders feeling that going public is not achievable. They are struggling to scale, cannot get access to capital they need, do not have candidates coming in with the right skills because technology is changing so quickly –the list goes on. Yet, I truly believe startups and micromultinationals will be the drivers of growth and innovation in the digital age — using technology to challenge traditional business models — rather than the large Fortune 500 companies that exist today. In fact, I predict that 40% of those big players won’t even exist 10 years from now.
